Merry's Journalistic Adventures
by Aria Breuer
Summary: Merry turned the camera towards him, revealing his ever so sweet smile. "It's me. Merry Brandybuck, head hobbit of… this video. Today, I am doing the one thing we can all deny in the end: dating tips from my cousins. Let's start with the non-cousin, Samwise Gamgee, who is in Brandy Hall at this very minute. Oomph!" Featuring Merry, Frodo, Pippin, and Sam.


**Disclaimers:** I do not own _The Lord of the Rings_. J.R.R. Tolkien does. All other canon material belongs to their respected owners.

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This idea just popped into my head, before I watched the show "Boy Meets World". Enjoy. :)

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 _Meriadoc Brandybuck, Merry for short, the curly brown haired gentle-hobbit wonder, the great navigator with maps, horses and boats, the… oh, here he was exploring Brandy Hall, the smial with its endless hallways, studies, bathrooms and bedrooms. He just hadn't expected coming across a rare piece of technology with its black casing and a flip screen._

" _Ooh. This is lovely. Who can I test it on?" Merry said, grinning from ear-to-ear._

 _Yes, it was time for Merry to explore with this video camera, no matter what the cause…_

…

Merry turned the camera towards him, revealing his ever so sweet smile. "It's me. Merry Brandybuck, head hobbit of… this video. Today, I am doing the one thing we can all deny in the end: dating tips from my cousins. Let's start with the non-cousin, Samwise Gamgee, who is in Brandy Hall at this very minute. Oomph!" He turned the camera around, searching for another brown hobbit with a rotund appearance. Yes, there he was, heading into the parlor. "Ah! Samwise Gamgee, my best friend."

"Mr. Merry," Sam asked, confused. "What are you up to?"

"Just a video," Merry said, smiling behind the camera.

"I'm not interested," Sam said, narrowly outsmarting the cameraman – er, camera-hobbit.

"Wait. Wait, wait. I'm asking for courting tips," Merry said, following Sam into the dining room. "What can you tell us about how you impressed Rosie?"

"You're asking for courting tips?" Sam asked, confused. "Don't you already know the answer?"

"Well, I do. But I would love your personal opinion on the subject," Merry said, smiling once more.

"Not interested." Sam said, standing up, but giving Merry a fair warning. "Good luck with your video."

"Wait, wait… grr!" Merry said, alone in the room again. "Now I'm alone with only a camera. Oh, what is poor ol' Merry to do… Pippin!" He pounced on his golden-haired cousin with the dashing personality and innocence that couldn't be denied. "Pippin, my best friend. Can you offer my viewers courting tips? Sam refuses to help me out with this project."

"I know little about dating. I'm only eighteen," Pippin said, admitting promptly. "Besides, Merry, you teach me how to court, don't you? Eh? I'll see you later."

"No! Eh…" Merry was alone again. Wasn't there anyone who could at least work on this project with him? He was down to his last resort… and there he was. Fair faced, curly brown hair, bright eyes, perky smile… perfect target. "Frodo! Frodo Baggins, might I ask you a question?"

"Is this important? I was about to help Aunt Esme with her cleaning the sheets," Frodo whispered. "For whatever reason. May I ask what you're doing?"

"Just an interview… no biggie," Merry said, smiling once more behind the camera. "Tell me. How do you court girls?"

Frodo's eyes widened. "You serious? You already know all of this stuff, Merry."

"Well, for my viewers," Merry said, coming up with something, before Frodo left him. "Come on, Frodo. Don't you have anything to say to our viewers? Our lovely viewers?"

"Oh. Okay." Frodo looked into the camera then and there, admitting flat out. "Next time you work with Merry, make sure he isn't the cameraman – camerahobbit. But next time, come see me personally, Merry. I'll see you later."

"No!" Merry was too late. Frodo was out the front door. Defeated, Merry flipped the camera around to where it faced him. "Well, another attempt failed. But at least I learned something today: never show a hobbit a video camera. They will turn up wrong, one hundred percent of the time."

"Ninety percent, if you count me in the camera. Hullo!" Pippin said, coming up from behind Merry and waving to the camera.

"I say I made a successful run anyway. Yes indeed. The end. I am done with this camera!" Merry said, turning the camera's recorder off, even as Pippin said the next few words,

"I'm hungry. When can we eat that raspberry pie?"

"Soon Pippin, soon—"

 _End of Video_

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Thanks for reading. :)


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